Charles François Dumouriez
Charles-François Dumouriez | |
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Portrait miniature by Pierre-Louis Bouvier, 1796/7 | |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 15 March 1792 – 13 June 1792 | |
| Monarch | Louis XVI |
| Preceded by | Claude Antoine de Valdec de Lessart |
| Succeeded by | Pierre-Paul de Méredieu |
| Minister of War | |
| In office 13 June 1792 – 18 June 1792 | |
| Preceded by | Joseph Marie Servan de Gerbey |
| Succeeded by | Pierre August Lajard |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 January 1739 Cambrai, Kingdom of France |
| Died | 14 March 1823 (aged 84) Turville, United Kingdom |
| Resting place | Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom |
| Occupation |
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| Awards | |
| Signature | |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Kingdom of France Kingdom of the French French First Republic |
| Branch/service | French Army |
| Years of service | 1758–1814 |
| Rank | Divisional general |
| Battles/wars | |
Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez (French: [ʃaʁl fʁɑ̃swa dy peʁje dymuʁje]; 26 January 1739 – 14 March 1823) was a French military officer, minister of Foreign Affairs, minister of War in a Girondin cabinet and army general during the French Revolutionary War. Dumouriez is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe, on Column 3.
With General Kellermann he shared the first French victory at Valmy where the Prussian army was forced to draw back. He rapidly advanced north (till Moerdijk); before entering Holland he decided to return to Brussels when the French armies lost territory in the east of Belgium and the Siege of Maastricht (1793). He disagreed with his successor Pache, the radical Convention and Jacobin deputies, like Robespierre and Marat, on the annexation of the wealthy Netherlands and the introduction of assignats. After losing the Battle of Neerwinden (1793), he deserted the Revolutionary Army. Fearing execution, he refused to surrender himself to the recently installed Revolutionary Tribunal and instead defected to the Austrian army.